


Vines of the Past

by ParvumAutomaton



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Bonds, Dissociation, Flashbacks, Forgiveness, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Lack of Forgiveness, Redemption, Self-Doubt, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26795587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParvumAutomaton/pseuds/ParvumAutomaton
Summary: Set sometime after Tales of the Hidden City and before Battle Nexus New York.The only reason that Leo and Draxum were spending any time together was because Mikey wanted all of his brothers to get along with their other ‘Dad’. And neither of them could say no to his pleading eyes.But pleading eyes can’t unhook someone from the vines that root them to their past mistakes. The way to redemption and forgiveness lies with concrete action, both to better oneself and to right previous wrongs.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 165





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> I want to give a shoutout to Mason who got me interested in actually putting this idea to paper, and Jade who spent a lot of time brainstorming with me for the initial draft.
> 
> Also thank the rest of the A Turtle DIsaster server for being so enthusiastic as I worked on it. Your excitement was infectious and very helpful.
> 
> Set sometime after Tales of the Hidden City and before Battle Nexus New York.
> 
> Note this was planned and plotted before the finale, so despite aiming to stay canon there is one plot point that I know was contradicted by a line. Thus the finale will not be the first time that Draxum goes to their lair.

Leo’s fingertips slid uselessly over sturdy bricks and shallow indentations of mortar. Despite the age of the tunnel he was in, he couldn't feel any chips in the wall. He also couldn't see any, but admittedly that was made more difficult since his beak was pressed so close to the wall that he could feel old flakes of mortar tickle his throat with every breath. 

Truly, it was turtle luck running true to form. The wall was structurally sound, even after most of the floor had long since fallen into the darkness of the deeper tunnels. 

“Turtle are you coming?” Draxum’s voice echoed from father up the tunnel.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut. Logically he knew why he was in this situation. Mikey had begged Leo, Donnie, and Raph to try, just once, bonding with Draxum. And Mikey’s puppy dog eyes weren’t to be ignored. Besides Mikey had insisted that the old Draxum was in the past and this was a way for them to be the family that he always knew that they could be.

Raph had agreed first. He was the big brother so it was only natural that he made sure everything was safe. He was cautious that day, keeping Draxum in the lair. But that didn’t mean he didn’t do what Mikey had asked. He put the warrior aspect of Draxum’s title to the test, with the two of them spending the day training. Leo appreciated having a day off. However he appreciated all of the new training ideas, and Draxum’s instance that he attended future sessions, far less. He had important stuff to focus on. Besides, who was Draxum to tell him what to do.

Right, their dad, apparently. Because he had created them. Not that Draxum had cared about that when— 

Leo was glad his face was against the wall. No one could see how upset he was.

Draxum was trying to improve, a fact Raph had confirmed. But he was still a jerk. Raph said that all you needed to do was ignore him in those moments. And that worked out well enough for Donnie.

Because after Raph’s successful training day, Donnie had agreed next. He and Draxum snuck into Draxum’s old lab to salvage what they could. Witchtown must have sparked Donnie’s curiosity, because he grabbed the purple naginata and several other mystical artifacts to study. They were all scattered in his lab now, undergoing a battery of tests. He had also grabbed stores of chemicals which were very volatile in nature. A fact Draxum harshly reminded Leo of every time Leo snuck into the Lab to see Donnie.

He didn’t need to be talked down to like that every few minutes. First off, Donnie made sure that the chemicals weren’t impact sensitive, just in case roughhousing got too extreme. And secondly, Leo knew better than to mess with Donnie’s inventions without permission, considering how wrong that S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. upgrade went.

Which is why he had gotten permission from Donnie to have the purple disks that were held securely in his pouch. 

Draxum didn’t know about those. Why would he, Draxum didn’t even need to be here. Being alone would have suited Leo fine.

It did not however suit Mikey. And once Raph and Donnie had finished their bonding days that left Leo bearing the full weight of Mikey’s pleading looks. And sure he could have said no. He had an excuse, Draxum had thrown him off a roof. But— 

He couldn’t use that forever. He couldn’t bear the possibility that Mikey would say ‘that’s in the past, why aren’t you over it yet?’. 

The rest of his family had forgiven him, but Leo— he was too weak and if they saw that. If he made them choose. 

Honestly Raph had more techniques than he did before, Donnie’s lab was now done up in a style he adored, and Mikey had the family he always wanted. 

If Leo were to force a choice— 

Draxum had more to offer, he could do more to keep everyone safe. It was completely logical that they would choose him over Leo. But that logic didn't help the sick feeling in his stomach whenever Leo thought of it. 

Dealing with the way his heart painfully thudded in his chest each time Draxum got too close was far better than dealing with that possible rejection, from that impossible but logical choice. 

So Leo amended his plan, he added in space for some backup. Besides if anyone ought to put themselves in harm's way for this, it should be Draxum. 

Not that he had told Draxum anything about the plan other than that he wanted to explore some of the tunnels under the hidden city. Leo didn’t trust Draxum not to tell his brothers or dad. And if they found out, they might have prevented him from going. Leo had a very limited window of opportunity, that he couldn’t afford to miss.

However he hadn’t counted on the state of this tunnel. He hadn’t counted on having to inch his way across a foot wide section of the remaining floor by the wall. And he certainly hadn’t counted on a section under his heel giving way and plinking down into the abyss, leaving him pressed against the wall trying to forget the horrible lurching sensation of having his support ripped away. 

“Why don’t you send out one of your vines to give me a larger path to walk on?” Leo shouted at the masonwork. He hoped Draxum was far enough ahead to not hear how his voice pitched up frantically.

“I’ve seen you balance on paths twice as narrow.” Draxum called back flatly. “Stop acting like a fool and let us get on with the- day of bonding.”

Leo shifted his head slightly to glare at Draxum. How dare he act like this was an imposition. It wasn’t like Leo wanted to be here any more than he did. 

Well Leo did want to be here. But if not for Mikey wanting them to give the family thing a shot, Draxum would most definitely not be here.

That retort caught in his throat when he caught sight of the dark bottomless chasm between him and Draxum.

No not bottomless.

There were tiny pinpricks of light below him.

Some were stationary, like the tops of amber street lights.

Some moved, back and forth. Like there were dozens of cars below him. Too far away for him to hear. But nevertheless each one rushing about, oblivious to the danger he was in far above them. 

Leo would hit asphalt and then the cars would hit him. Raph would either get there far too late, or far too fast. Leo didn’t know which would be worse. Having to watch his brother die, or forcing his brother to watch him die.

No.

He just had to keep his feet on the roof below him. He just had to-

Vines touched his waist, his arm. 

Leo jerked away.

He couldn't be used as leverage. 

Not again. 

He couldn't force his brothers to make impossible choices. 

Not again.

He— 

He was too late.

Leo registered the sensation of falling. A flash of color, purple or red in the pale light. And a crunching stop.

Leo saw white.

Everything felt _wrong_. Stars danced at the corners of his slowly returning vision. Cold water lapped at his legs. Old bricks crumbled under his arms and shell.

Everything was wrong.

Leo reached out with his right hand, palm up and tapping the ground.

“Thanks buddy.”

Only silence and the sound of his heart pounding in his ears answered.

Raph?

Where was Raph?

Leo clawed his way to his feet. It felt like barbed wire had wrapped itself deep within his left shoulder, tearing at him with each movement. But he could deal with that. The cold fear, the tendrils of dread wrapping around his heart and stomach. That he couldn’t take.

He had to find Raph. If he was alone, injured on the street. He-

He wasn’t in the street. He was in a sewer interceptor. Had he— had they crashed through the street itself?

No, he had landed on a car.

Leo hunched forward, cradling his left arm against his plastron. Above, he could hear movement. He would be useless to Raph if he was caught by humans, or worse, the one who dropped him.

Hide first. Then find Raph. Then figure out where he was.

Leo sprinted down the raised level of the sewer interceptor. If push came to shove he could swim. But he’d save that for a last effort. The water was cold and he needed his wits about him for— for— 

Leo skidded to a stop, keeping himself hidden behind one of the tunnel's many branches.

For his plan. He had a plan. He had a map. And Raph wasn’t here. He was fine, he was fine, he was fine.

He took a shaky breath. Then he took another, filling his lungs until his shoulder protested.

He was safe. And more importantly, he had a time limit.

Leo shuffled through his pouches. His phone was smashed, which he expected. Beside it were stacks of printed cards and metallic purple disks. 

Leo forced air out from between his teeth. He was so very glad that Donnie’s creation was as impact resistant as his brother had claimed. 

The last thing he pulled out was a large folded paper map. The tunnels he was in were massive and designed to be confusing. But he knew where he had come in. And now that he had a moment to breath, he knew where he was when he fell and he knew the type of tunnel he had landed in. There were only so many sewer interceptors, so it was easy enough to find where he landed. From there Leo could only have run in a limited number of directions, and the paths forked differently in each one. It was straight forward to determine exactly where he was.

Now Leo had two options. He could press forward, the path he was on would eventually connect to where he needed to be. Continue with his plan without _him._ Or Leo could turn back, get some medical help, rejoin with _him_ , and still arrive in time, because the path from where he had fallen was much more direct. 

Leo hopped from leg to leg. He bent and raised his right arm. 

No pain.

He bent his left arm at the elbow and made a fist.

No pain

He tried to raise that arm.

White hot _wrong_ unwound from his shoulder, traveling down his arm, across his chest, and deep into his shell. 

He gasped for air. And shakily lowered his arm back to his side.

Leo blinked away the moisture that had gathered in his eyes. As long as he didn’t do that maneuver again he’d be alright. And all right, considering it was his left arm causing the issue.

He grinned. 

His original plan didn’t even include _him_ or any fighting. It was why he left his odachi behind in the first place. 

There was no reason to go back. 

Leo just hoped that he didn’t lose too much time. He would never forgive himself, if his slipping, ment that he was too late.

* * *

Draxum stared down at the chasm. He had just lost one of Michaleango’s brothers. No he didn’t lose him, the blue turtle kicked away from him. There was no way he could have expected that. There was no way he could have prevented that. 

It was not his fault.

Still Michaleango would be _disappointed_ , if he didn’t return with his blue brother. 

Draxum sighed and extended his vines downward. The hole extended through three layers of tunnels. He’d have to check each one for the blue turtle. Hopefully he would have the good sense to stay put. The tunnels under the hidden city were vast, carved out by centuries of pirates for the purpose of hauling loot to every corner of the city, and being able to make a quick escape from the Hidden City Police. 

They were also notoriously easy to get lost in.

Draxum examined the first tunnel. It was empty and missing most of its floor. He walked up the hallway until he reached a branch, just in case the turtle had the sense to pull himself to more stable ground. He then walked down the hallway to perform the same check. 

No turtle.

Draxum went down to the lower tunnel. Again he checked on both sides of the much smaller floor hole. Again he walked until he hit a branch. Again he found nothing.

The final tunnel did not have a hole in it’s floor, that was obvious by the fact that the center of this tunnel was flooded with water.

Draxum took his time walking down this tunnel. He had to use his vines to trawl the entire flooded section, since the water itself was far too murky to see through.

Again he reached the first branch in both directions without finding anything. 

Of course the turtle had to be uninjured and unintelligent enough to wander down the impossible to navigate tunnels. 

There was literally nothing more Draxum could do. Michalenago would not hold it against him.

Except the turtles wore panic buttons. Which meant that once the blue one realized that he’s completely lost, and hungry, he’d press his. His location would then be broadcast and all Draxum had to do is make sure he was at the lair to get the alert. 

Draxum sighed. He didn’t know how often the turtles ate. But if it was at the same frequency as the human spawn that came to his lunchroom, the blue turtle should press his panic button before the other turtles returned from their marathon of movies, or the rat returned from his vacation at the capybara's home.

That would be ideal. Perhaps they could come to an agreement not to tell the others about this situation. He was sure the blue one wouldn’t want his idiocy broadcast.

And Draxum wouldn’t have to deal with Michaelango’s disappointment.

The lair was, as Draxum had hoped, quiet. He was able to get onto the purple one’s calculation machine uninterrupted, while being careful not to touch anything else in the lab. The purple one had been experimenting with some of the more explosive compounds from Draxum’s old lab recently. And he did not want an explosion to alert them to the fact he was operating the purple one’s calculation machine without explicit permission. 

He did have implicit permission though, as Michaelango had given him the secret code. The code itself was ingenious, not in its complexity, but any intruder would feel hesitation when typing it in.

At least Draxum did.

The computation machine showed no recent activations of the turtle’s panic buttons. There was nothing Draxum could do but wait.

However it was not guaranteed that the blue one would be intelligent enough to activate his panic button before something bad happened. If that happened and Draxum was just waiting at the lair.

The blue one had been quite insistent on visiting the Hidden City tunnels. He had even turned down a day of watching the ridiculous science fiction movie franchise that he had claimed to love so much. Draxum had no delusions that he had wanted to spend time with him. But he hadn’t complained at the time because it meant he wouldn’t have to watch a noble yokai play sidekick to a complete fool.

But now, if he could find some clue as to why the blue one suddenly cared so much about old tunnels, perhaps he could find a clue as to where he had gone.

The blue one’s room was not locked, and the turtles did sneak into Draxum’s lab and steal from him. So Draxum did not feel bad about looking through the blue one’s stuff. It didn’t matter anyway because most of it was garbage. Cheap plastic in the shape of fictional monsters, gaudily colored paper depicting worthless human movies. 

But neatly folded and pressed between two of his comedic books, which was a misnomer because the books were mostly art and taught the blue one nothing about the art of comedy, was yellowed paper folded into a thick bundle.

He unfolded the bundle onto the bed. Of all the things he expected the turtles to have hidden away, a highly detailed map of the Hidden City tunnels was not one of them. And it wasn’t just highly detailed, it was the most detailed map that Draxum had ever seen. He understood why when he saw the graphic in the lower corner depicting its origins. 

Skin and bones.

It came from Capitán Piel, one of the most ruthless pirate captains in the hidden city. Legend had it that he had sold out his own brother to the Hidden City police. 

That meant that the blue one had managed to steal from someone skilled enough to steal from the SS Queen Alexis, or from Capitán Piel himself. Either of which would be an impressive feat. 

It also meant that Blue had planned out their expedition to the Hidden City tunnels. He probably made his own copy of the map, so as not to risk losing the priceless artifact in those tunnels. 

Draxum was impressed. He had been completely fooled by Blue’s idiotic actions, and had failed to account for the fact it could be a plan. That Blue could be searching for something in the tunnels. Perhaps he had even planned his departure from Draxum. It was an ingenious move to keep whatever gold or mystic weapons cache he was investigating hidden from his brothers.

Draxum was not one to stop that level of ingenuity.

He should however make sure that Blue actually made it out of the Hidden City tunnels. They were still in use by criminals and thieves. If Blue ran into one, or if Capitán Piel decided to seek revenge for the thief of his map, he could be in trouble.

And if Blue got injured, Michelangelo would be disappointed.

Draxum would also be disappointed.

He examined the map closer. Small sticky markers of plastic were affixed to the map. A pink arrow pointed to the entrance that both Blue and Draxum had used. There were also three additional arrows, one blue, one purple, and one orange. The blue and purple ones were placed close together, and the orange one was at another edge of the map. 

Draxum overlaid a mental map of the Hidden City. The orange marker was at a well concealed exit that was very close to a path to the human world. That must be Blue’s exit. The blue marker was under the Battle Nexus and the purple was under Big Mama’s vault. 

Blue was going after much more than pirate treasure. Draxum didn’t know if he should be impressed or terrified for Blue’s life. 

Draxum settled on being both.

Draxum hastily looked over the rest of the papers with the map. He found two less detailed maps hand drawn on pure white rectangular human paper.

The first he recognized as being the inside of the Battle Nexus. The cages for the more unwilling combatants and the champion's lounge were explicitly marked. In addition, the entrances to the arena, every ceiling mounted grate were also marked. As well as notes on tunnel entrances. Draxum had never considered that there would be entrances so close to the Nexus itself, but that was a prime area for pirates to recruit new pirates.

The second took a bit more deciphering. But based on what he saw at the edges and the upper level of the tunnels marked, it was a map of the inside of Big Mama’s impenetrable vault. Draxum had no idea how Blue would have gotten this information. But the level of detail and notes about the room gave him the impression that it was far more than an assumption on Blue’s part.

The last paper in the bundle was not a map, nor was it on human paper. Instead it was a flyer advertising a Battle Nexus Battle Royale Extravaganza. It was supposed to be a former Battle Nexus champion free for all, a lead up to the Fantabulous Battle Nexus Wizbang. Every old champion, not including Shadow Fiend, was encouraged to participate. The top four contestants would get a phantasmagoric prize and great but unnamed honer in the Fantabulous Battle Nexus Wizbang. 

The date listed on the flyer was the current date. 

One the back it further sold the event by marketing that all other contestants would be entered in an initial round of champion vs spares. Where the last surviving spare would be allowed into the main event. No doubt it would be brutal. Draxum didn’t understand why she would waste time with the fodder. He didn’t see how having a fight with a known loser would satisfy her audience’s bloodlust. But perhaps that was why she ran a criminal enterprise, and he ran a far more efficient and reputable kitchen.

Blue must have been planning on using the massive draw of the battle royal to steal from Big Mama’s vault. But what could possibly be there that was worth the risk?

Draxum traced the path that he and Blue had taken into the tunnels. It was a fairly straight shot to both blue and purple markers. However there was no update to the map showing the collapsed section of tunnel. And while it would be possible to get to the markers from any of the lower sections, none would be as easy as the one that they were on.

Which meant that Blue wasn’t planning on separating from Draxum.

But then why had he insisted on Draxum coming with him? There was nothing that Big Mama had that Draxum— 

The orb of mind pacifying magic. He gave it to her. She could use it to do some real damage to the city of New York. And if she did so, Michelangelo would be so disappointed that Draxum put the city he called home in danger.

Which meant Blue was subtly trying to help Draxum fix a mistake. Which meant he was _still_ trying to help Draxum fix a mistake.

He had to find him. He had to help Leonardo.

  
  
  



	2. The Enactment

“Why should we trust a Battle Nexus champion?”

Leo looked at the lizard yokai, or maybe mutant, separated from him by thick bars and a locked door. He gave them a self confident grin. Which he then shot down the row of cage doors in front of him.

“Because, I’m pretty sure Big Mama doesn’t like me,” Leo said.

“You are literally the son of her greatest champion, and a champion yourself.” The former Nexus Hotel lift-man, or lift-octopus said. 

Leo reached out with his right hand. “Yeah, but—” 

“She literally gave you a portal out of the arena.” A silver fox yokai said, cutting him off.

More voices joined in. Leo could feel his smile waver.

A pigeon yokai spoke first. “This is a trap.”

“You just want to soften us up before the warm up fight.” Said one of the times square cockroach mutants.

Leo slid his foot backwards. And it took more strength than he cared to admit not to back away from the caged yokai who could do nothing to hurt him. 

“You think he has money riding on the outcome?” A rhino asked.

“Of course he does.” A warthog answered.

“No seriously I-” Leo instinctively tried to raise his hands. Only his right hand made it. His left shoulder protested and Leo was forced to drop that hand with a gasp.

“I think we should hear him out.” 

The voice was familiar, Leo spun to face the cages he had walked past to begin his plea. How had he missed that fish man, that imitation crab mutant, who he was here to find. He was also the person here with the biggest reason not to trust Leo, so it was encouraging that he still wanted to hear Leo out. That or the Battle Nexus was just that bad. Leo pushed that thought side, for now all that mattered was his plan.

“Thank you.” Leo said, finding it a bit easier to hold his smile.

“So,” a voice from behind him asked, “who’d you have to fight to get in here.”

“No fights.” Leo spinning with a flourish of his right hand. “It was all stealth, baby.”

The lizard yokai raised an eyebrow. “No fights? Really?”

“You got in here without any difficulty?” Fish man pressed. His voice wasn’t accusatory, but still— 

Leo rubbed his neck with his right hand. “I mean, I kinda— sorta— fell a few stories in the tunnel that brought me here. But I’m fine, and we’re on a bit of a time crunch.”

Fish man turned, using one eye to look at both Leo and the lizard yokai.

“Raise your hand,” he said.

Leo raised his right hand.

“Other one.”

Leo got his left hand up to his waist before flinching and dropping it.

“I think we can trust him,” He said, shifting his full attention to the lizard yokai.

The warthog narrowed his eyes at Leo. “So, how’s a one armed turtle going to get us out of here?”

“I’ve got this, don’t worry.” Leo said grinning. “I only need one thing from you all. And that is, that you not to return to your cells.”

“And what are you going to do?” The lizard asked.

“First I—” Leo fell silent when he felt more than heard the outer gate of the contestant cell block open and then slam closed. 

Using only his right hand he raced up the gate blocking the cells from the Battle Nexus and held himself as close to the ceiling as he possibly could. It wasn’t the best hiding spot, but given the circumstances it was all he had.

Leo counted Big Mama’s guards as they entered. There were at least two for every battle nexus contestant. If he was here with his brothers and looking down eight guards. Even down an arm Leo wouldn’t be worried. But he was alone, and he wasn’t going to force the prisoners, who had already been forced to fight, to fight more. So he held his position and waited.

Each cell was opened. Each prisoner was escorted to the center of the hall and pushed into a mass with the others. The guards surrounded them and slowly herded the group to the Battle Nexus gate.

Leo’s hiding spot. His chance for stealth disappearing by the second. 

He glanced over the cell block once more to double check that each cell was open, and each prisoner was in the hall. When he was satisfied that they were, he let go.

Leo landed in front of the Battle Nexus gate. He hid the wince from that jolt behind a smug grin.

“Really?” He said, drawing out the sound and catching the guards’s eyes. “Big Mama holds a Battle Nexus of Champions and doesn’t invite me? Dudes, I’m actually kinda insulted.”

It took the guards two beats to blink past their shock and lunge at Leo. Leo leapt away, grinning the entire time. 

It was chaos in the cell block, but that worked to Leo’s advantage. The area of engagement was small enough that he only ever had to worry about three guards at once. The rest were forced behind their coworkers waiting for their turn. All Leo did was dodge, jump, and run. Friendly fire did a good job at taking down guards.

Still, a large group remained between Leo and the outer gate. And even when the gate opened to let in more of Big Mama’s guards, Leo didn’t have a chance to reach it.

Neither did the prisoners.

“Wow,” Leo quipped, “Does it really take all of Big Mama’s guards to stop one _nobel_ turtle?”

Leo grinned, and felt the device in his pouch buzz. He was all in. 

He was also shoved face first into the ground as the guards took advantage of his distraction. Six guards piled on top of him. One on each arm and leg, one pushing on the center of his shell, and one keeping his cheek pressed against the floor.

In front of him Big Mama's fox guard pulled out a radio.

“We got the turtle,” he said.

Big Mama’s voice crackled over the radio as she laughed. “Did you really think you could stage a coup, my turtley-boo? Looks like you should have brought your simboly sword.”

Leo shrugged the best he could from his position on the ground. “Eh, Dad’s better with it. However, I am a better distraction.”

The buzzing in Leo’s pouch stopped. He smiled as a rumble swept through the entire Battle Nexus.

“My Vault!” Big Mama shouted. Leo could taste her anger. “Guards, protect my vault!”

“But the contestants-” the fox guard started.

“Are worthless compared to my vault,” She hissed back. “Just seal the gamy gates when you leave. If my Lou gets there with that sword it won’t matter anyway. So stop the turtles before they steal from Big Mama.”

The guards raced to the entrance to the cell block. The largest of them looped an arm around Leo’s throat and dragged him to his feet. As the guard made his way to the entrance, he kept his arm tight around Leo’s neck and kept Leo positioned between the guards and the prisoners. 

As he was pulled closer to the entrance, Leo tried to dig his heels into the ground. All six of his fingernails dug into his captor’s arm. But nothing worked until they reached the gate. 

Leo’s backwards motion slowed. The grip on his neck released. And the guard slammed his fist into Leo’s shell.

Leo saw white. 

The next thing he knew he was lying face down on the ground trying desperately to ignore the bile rising in his throat. 

His shell felt like it was on fire. 

Leo couldn’t believe how strong that guard was. He’d never felt this bad from a blow to his shell. Is this what April had to worry about all the time with her completely exposed human back? It was beyond awful. He’d make sure Donnie gave her a shield or spare battle shell or something when he got back.

Leo remembered to breathe.

In the distance he could hear arguing. And on the upper right of his shell, opposite the burning line, he could feel a large cold four fingered hand.

Leo shifted his head to look at the fish man. He tilted his head in response and caught Leo’s gaze in one of his large yellow eyes.

“Sorry your plan didn’t work dude.”

“It wasn’t a plan,” the cockroach mutant chided. “We were only a distraction so that he could rob Big Mama.”

“But, his father with the portal will show up,” the lizard yokai pressed.

The rhino snorted. “Ya, but only to use us as distraction.”

“Actually,” Leo said, forcing himself back to his feet, ignoring the pain in his shell, “no one is coming.”

Leo walked forward. He carefully counted cells and stones before squatting at one edge of the cell block. His fingers traced the floor until he found exactly what he was looking for.

“However, we will be leaving.”

Leo pulled on the latch. The pain in his shell drove him to his knees. 

Leo grit his teeth. It would have been a lot cooler if that had worked the first time, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He got back to his feet, grabbed the latch, and pulled, falling to his side as the white hot pain from his shell shot through his entire body.

“You can’t dig your way out of here,” the warthog said. “Believe me I’ve tried.”

“I’m not digging,” Leo said between panting breaths. “Big Mama really should have asked how I got here.”

Leo pushed himself up and grabbed the latch again. He took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut. 

This time the door to the passageway moved. Over his hand was Fish man's hand. At his side the white fox and lizard yokai stood, both assisting in pulling up the entrance to the hidden tunnels.

Leo grinned and gestured to the entrance with his right hand.

The lizard yokai looked down the passageway. “How?”

“Capitán Piel owed me a favor.”

“So now what?” The white fox asked. “Do you want us to wander these tunnels until we starve or get caught by Big Mama or pirates?”

Leo grinned wider as he pulled out the stack of papers from his pouch. 

“Capitán Piel’s favor wasn’t for the entrance. It was for the map.” he said, offering copies to the yokai and mutants. “It’s not the whole system so be careful. But there are a dozen exits marked.”

Leo made sure to give Fish man the map from the bottom of the pile. The one with the exit closest to Run of the Mill Pizza circled and Señor Hueso’s name handwritten.

“My advice would be to scatter and keep quiet.” Leo said watching the mutants and yokai enter. “Good news for you all is that Big Mama’s probably going to be focused on me after she realizes that it was me and only me who blew up her vault.” 

The lizard yokai looked at him and nodded. “As a distraction. For us.”

Leo nodded back. And the former prisoners of Big Mama took their cue. They raced into the twists of the tunnel network. And Leo took a last walk through the cell block, ensuring no one was left behind.

Once he confirmed the success of his plan, Leo entered the tunnels. He firmly sealed the hidden entrance behind himself, before pulling out his own map copy. He double checked the route to the tunnel exit closest to the lair, replaced the map in his pouch, and started running down the first tunnel of his path.

He only got four steps before the pain in his shell and shoulder stole his balance.

Leo leaned heavily against the wall of the tunnel.

He had to catch his breath. He had to move. 

He had to assume that the explosion under Big Mama’s vault would give her access to the tunnels. And sure she didn’t have a map as good as his, but she had way more guards. If one found him, or if she called Gus. 

He had to get out of here, fast.

“You ok there, Mr. Turtle?”

Leo spun to face Fish man. 

“It’s Leo,” He corrected automatically, before blinking hard and shaking his head. “But what are you still doing here...”

“Stu,” He said, offering Leo his hand. “Or I guess Stewart now. Since I don’t want to deal with being called ‘Fish Stu’.”

“Ok Stewart, what are you still doing here?”

“Making sure you get out, Leo. You did rescue me, so I kinda owe you one, dude.”

“You really don’t. And you really need to get out of here before Big Mama’s guards start tracking me.”

“Of course,” he said, not moving and not withdrawing his hand. “But only if you come with me.”

Leo took his hand. “If it'll get you to move.”

Stewart looped Leo’s right arm around his sloping shoulders. And together the two of them moved forward.

“I think my map directed me this way,” Stewart said.

Leo shook his head. “We should use my exit. It has some swimming to throw Gus off my scent.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah he’s tracked me through Big Mama’s hotel before.” 

“No I mean,” Stewart focused an eye on Leo’s shell. “Are you sure you can swim?”

Leo nodded. “I’m a turtle. I can swim.”

Stewart let out a breath but didn’t say anything. 

Leo was grateful for the silence. It took more energy that he cared to admit to keep placing one for in front of the other. 

With each step Leo could feel both the threads of discomfort winding out from his shell and Big Mama's web tightening around them. So he was both relieved and uneasy when Stewart slowed to a stop.

"We're here," Stewart said, "and you're sure going in the water is a good idea?"

"It's the best one I got." Leo closed his eyes and took a breath. "Just in case we get separated when we enter the water we go left, then left turn, right turn, then look for the underwater tunnel on the left, then exit the water for the tunnel on the right."

Leo fumbled with his pouch, trying to get it open with one hand. "I have a map if you..."

"No worries, I was a New York City delivery man." Stewart pointed at the wall behind them. "We are trying to head in that general direction, right?"

Leo blinked and double checked with his map before confirming that Stewart was right.

As Leo stuffed his map back into his pouch, Stewart looked from Leo to the water and back to Leo.

“You’re sure about swimming?”

“Positive,” Leo said. 

He gave Stewart a grin and a wave. But despite his cocky grin, Leo was cautious. He didn’t jump into the water, instead opting to sit on the edge and lower himself in.

But it didn’t matter.

The second the cold water touched his upper shell, Leo couldn’t think of anything else. 

Not Steward. Not Big Mama. Not his escape plan. Not even remaining above water.

The only thing that existed was the icy hot fire consuming his shell, his shoulder, his neck, his chest.

All the air left his lungs in a stream of chaotic bubbles. The cold locked his joints. Leo curled in on himself.

Could he drown here?

What would his family think?

Would they even know?

Leo was grabbed. Arms enveloped his chest. He moved. Water parted around his beak. A flat hand pressed against his shell, calming the fire to a pounding ache.

He could hear Stewart cursing.

Leo cracked open an eye that he didn’t remember closing. He was at the surface of the water, looking up at Stewart.

Leo took in a breath.

“don’t tell... my brothers... about this.” Leo let his eyes close again and focused on his breathing.

“Let’s get you back to dry land.”

“no.”

“Pretty sure you’re not in a position to fight me on this.”

“couldn’t fight... Big Mama... either.” Leo tried desperately to get his limbs to do what he wanted. “’m fine... safety first... then rest.”

“Promise me.”

Leo nodded.

“Hold on.”

Leo couldn't. He curled his left arm against his plastron and let his right hand hang limp. But Stewart didn't complain. He held Leo firmly, head and shoulders above the water line, as he swam. Leo could feel the water break around him. He could feel each kick, every change in direction like a needle jabbing deep within his shell. 

He could feel Stewart’s hand pressed over the pain, keeping the needles from becoming swords.

“Deep breath.”

Leo tilted his head.

“We’re at that tunnel. So we have to go back underwater.”

Leo obliged and took a deep breath.

But even with Stewart’s hand, when water hit the top of his shell all the air in his lungs hissed past his teeth.

Stewart held him, head above water as he gasped. It was fortunate that Leo's mask was already soaked. No one had to know about his tears of pain and frustration.

He should be able to do this.

“You ok?”

Leo gave a jerky nod.

“You want to try again?”

Leo swallowed the no he wanted to say. The whole point was getting Stewart to safety. And since Stewart wouldn’t leave him behind, they both had to escape.

So Leo nodded again. He took as deep of a breath as he could manage, and relaxed the best he could as he was completely submerged.

Leo tucked his head against Stewart's chest. His eyes squeezed shut against the cold fire that slipped past Stewart's fingers. 

Stewart moved with the smooth confidence of someone who knew exactly where they needed to be. Leo was grateful for that, it meant that the slow counting and the focus on the feeling of water flowing over his legs was enough to keep his pain manageable.

Leo has reached forty two when Stewart gently taped on his head. Leo nodded. He was fine, there was no need to turn back.

At eighty seven Stewart tapped again. Leo nodded again. He was still fine. But Stewart swam to the surface.

Leo took as deep of a breath as he could manage.

"We're done swimming," Stewart said.

"I'm ok," Leo said quietly. "We can keep going."

"That's great, but this is where you said we should exit."

"Oh."

Leo allowed Stewart to pull him to the edge of the water. The confident hold weakened as they lost support from the water. Leo helped as much as he could. But things like supporting his own weight or getting his feet under him were still outside of his ability.

Leo went down to his knees. Stewart helped him down the rest of the way. Until Leo was laying flat on his plastron, his head resting on his right arm to keep it off of the tunnel floor. Both feet were still sticking out over the water, but Leo didn’t have the energy to care.

Moving them now wouldn’t make Big Mama less likely to find them. And he had promised Stewart he’d rest once they were safe. 

Rest sounded pretty good right now.

Stewart tapped his face.

“Dude. I’m not sure you should be sleeping.”

Leo cracked his eyes open. Something about Stewart’s voice made an uncomfortable worry settling deep in his stomach. 

Just how badly was his shell injured? Had he been bathing his internal organs with sewer water? Even if he was more or less fine now, how long would it be before infection set in? He didn’t know if his family would have the ability to treat something like that. Would he be returning home just so his family could watch helplessly as he died? At least he would get to see them again, which wouldn’t have been able to happen if Big Mama had caught him. But still— 

Leo took a deep shuddering breath. There was a single line of fire that went over his left shoulder to the edge of his shell. One line meant he probably wasn’t missing a large chunk. In fact, it wasn’t likely that Stewart knew anything about turtle biology. Maybe he was just worried about a deep scratch on one of Leo’s scutes. It would probably look bad but— 

But he was being overly optimistic. Scratched scutes wouldn’t cause the pain Leo was in now.

Stewart’s hand rested on the back of Leo’s head.

“You’re going to be ok. Just talk to me until you have enough energy to walk out of here.”

“Ok,” Leo said softly, letting his eyes drift shut. “Don’t know what to talk about though.”

“How about-,” Stewart paused. “I don’t know, maybe tell me about Señor Hueso? You wrote his name on my map?”

“Oh.”

Leo fell silent. Now was not the best time to do this. They were technically still escaping, even if Leo was now mostly confident that Big Mama wouldn’t find them. But if his injury was as bad as he feared it could be.

Leo did want to do this before the infection set it. It really wouldn’t be fair to do this while he was dying.

“Stewart I- I owe you an apology. I’m sorry I should have done something sooner. I should have—”

“Hey, easy, easy,” Stewart said softly. “It’s ok, you're ok.”

“No it’s not.” Leo responded firmly. “Stewart, I was there when Draxum mutated you. I- I should have done something then. But I didn’t. My family and I, we weren’t good enough to take on Draxum then. Maybe if I had slacked off less in training I could have—” 

Leo took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and focused on Stewart. “It shouldn’t have taken me so long to do something. I’m sorry.”

Stewart was silent. But he kept his hand on Leo’s head, tracing slow soft circles with his fingers

“I’ve talked to a friend of mine, Señor Hueso. He owns Run of the Mill Pizza and could use a delivery man. The job is yours whenever you want it. If you want it. I wish I knew a way to undo the mutation. But I don’t- I—”

“Leo, thank you. It means a lot but,” Stewart raised his hand to the back of his neck. “I don’t think most people would be too enthused about getting a delivery from...”

“Hueso’s customers are different. It’s a yokai pizza place.” Leo said quickly. “But, he’s nothing like Big Mama. He’s- it’s because of him and his brother that I was able to rescue you. They gave me the map of these tunnels.” 

Stewart nodded. “He sounds like a better boss than my previous one at least.”

“Yeah,” Leo mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut. He couldn’t imagine how awful it would have been to be forced to fight for Big Mama. 

“Do you know how many creeps there are in NYC ordering food? Sure goat-dude was the worst. But not by much. And my old boss wouldn’t even consider refusing to deliver to them. He just went on about how we should be grateful to have jobs and he could replace any of us at any time.”

Leo looked up at Stewart’s easy smile. 

“If you have any trouble with customers you can call me. I’ve done bouncer work for Hueso before,” Leo said.

“Looks like I’ll need to get your number then.”

“Right.” Leo said, blinking. “Right. My phone got a bit smashed when I fell. But I do have a panic button that I can give you. Next time you get into trouble just press it and my brothers and I will get to your location asap. I promise that this time it won’t take me, us, months to get to you. So it’s in your court now. But, you do get to keep the panic button whether or not you accept my apology.”

“I do, dude. Completely. Seriously, this is only the sheep dude’s and spider lady’s fault—” Stewart blinked hard. “Wait. You have a panic button?”

“Yes?” 

“Do you think, maybe, now might be a good time to press it?”

Leo grimaced. “I- I don’t want to.” 

“Why not?” Stewart asked, concern lacing his voice. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Leo shifted his head, so that his eyes pressed into the crook of his arm. When he spoke, it was directly to the ground.

“Because I don’t want my brothers to know what happened today. My little brother, Mikey, has been trying to reform the goat-man, Draxum. And he has been making progress. But today- today he wanted me and Draxum to bond. I swear I tried but I- I don’t know what happened.”

“Personally,” Stewart said, voice light. “I can’t complain about today.”

“The rescue was always the plan,” Leo said quickly. “I was just going to have Draxum actually rob Big Mama’s vault instead of just exploding it. Having someone to chase would take pressure off of us. I mean, it worked out well in the end, but if you hadn’t...”

“So what happened?” Stewart asked when Leo fell silent. “Why didn’t Goat man come?”

“We got separated when I fell. I- I freaked out. I put the whole mission in jeopardy.” Leo exhaled sharply. “But when he grabbed at me over that drop— I- I was so scared of a repeat of last time that I made it a repeat of last time.”

“What happened last time?”

“My brothers and I were trying to capture the oozequetos, the bugs he used to mutate people. I was sloppy and he- he dangled me over the edge of a skyscraper and gave my brother a choice—”

Stewart gently pressed his hand into the back of Leo’s head. He waited in silence for Leo’s shaking breaths to calm.

“Raph made the right choice.” Leo said, his voice barely a whisper. “Draxum was using those bugs to hurt people. But still that fall—”

Stewart resumed tracing slow soft circles against the back of Leo’s head.

“He caught me. Everything was fine I just- I—”

Leo fell silent and pushed his head hard against his arm. He was already soaked with sewer water. A few tears were not going to make a difference.

“And now Draxum is apparently getting better.” Leo said, voice shaking. “But if I tell my brothers I’m still not over it, they’ll have to make a choice again. I don’t want to be hurt again—

“So they can’t know what happened. I just want to get home, get cleaned up. And figure out some lie to tell about my shell. Then everything will be fine.”

* * *

“Turtles, and human, I am in need of your assistance.” Draxum said, standing before the lounging teenagers and their box of entertainment.

“Move,” the purple one said, narrowing his eyes. “You are 100 percent opaque, and are thus blocking our view of the movie.”

“Your cheesy moving picture can wait. I require-”

“What have we told you about making demands?” The human asked.

“Now is not the time for ‘politeness’,” He said, raising his fingers to mimic the gesture Leonardo would often make. “Now is the time for action.”

The red one sighed and Michelangelo glanced around the human’s apartment. 

“Hey Draxum.” Michelangelo asked slowly “Where’s Leo?”

The others froze, and looked at Draxum, the fake space battle playing on the screen behind him all but forgotten.

“That is what I was trying to tell you. We got separated in the hidden city tunnels.”

The red one stared him down. “What, exactly, were you doing in the hidden city tunnels?”

Draxum shrugged. “Attempting a theft from Big Mama.”

“Are you kidding me?” The red one said, throwing his hands into the air.

“No.”

The human leaned into his personal space. “And you aren’t with him, because—?”

“As I just said. We got separated.”

“The hidden city tunnels are massive and nearly impossible to navigate,” the purple one hesitated in his tirade long enough to poke a finger at Draxum. “And you lost him.”

“I have a map.”

The purple one snatched the map out of his hands. His finger flew down the same paths Draxum had found, stopping at the same plastic markers. The purple one froze staring at the purple marker.

“Hey D,” the red one said, leaning closer to the map. “It’s all good. There’s no exits marked near the vault and he left his sword. It must be a scouting thing—”

“Her vault is marked in purple.”

“So?”

“So, yesterday, I gave him some experimental explosives I had been working on. He said he’d go somewhere safe and test them. He—”

“He was planning on using them in the heist against Big Mama,” Draxum said, cutting the purple one off. “Impressive.”

“Do not compliment him for that,” the red one ordered. “I can’t believe this. He skips out on our missions, but decides to rob Big Mama, alone”

“He was not alone,” Draxum cut in. “I was supposed—”

The purple one raised his fake eyebrow. “Are you 100 percent sure about that?”

“You really think Leo would ditch Draxum?” Michelangelo asked, eyes wide.

The human, the purple one and the red one all spoke at the same time. Their firm ‘yes’ drowned out Draxum’s tentative ‘no’.

“So, new plan for today,” the red one said. “We search the tunnels to find Leo, hopefully before he becomes spider bait.”

The human placed her finger on the orange marker. “It does seem to show his exit.”

“And the exit is near Run of the Mill Pizza.” The red one said. “We’ll enter there and go backwards. We’re sure to run into Leo. But Donnie, keep an eye on his panic button just in case.”

“Already ahead of you buddy,” the purple one said. “And I’ve been tracking his phone as well.”

“Oh, so you already know where he is?” Michelangelo said beaming.

“Negative. But I will know. As soon as he turns his phone back on.”

The trip to the yokai owned place of pizza passed in silence, save for Michelangelo's occasional queries to Leonardo’s location, and the purple one’s consistent response of no information available. 

It was disappointing to see the yokai at that eating establishment hiding instead of showing the world their glory. But at least they dared to be on the surface. Unlike those fools that were content below with their petty Battle Nexus competition.

The tunnels themselves were the same old brickwork that Draxum had remembered. Although this passage had more structural stability.

As they walked, each of the turtles and the human scoured every alcove and off shoot for signs of Leonardo. However no one called his name. 

Their caution was rewarded when they heard Big Mama's voice, distorted by distance, echo, and static.

"Find the blue turtley-boo No one steals from Big Mama."

Big Mama had not yet found Leonardo. However neither Draxum nor the others had seen him between his planned exit and the edge of Big Mama's searching guards. 

Leonardo must be hiding closer to The Battle Nexus waiting for the search to die down. And the only reason he would do that would be if he were burdened with something, an object or an injury, that prevented him from out running the guards.

"Alright Mad Dogs," the red one said, clearly coming to the same conclusion that Draxum had, "stealth mode."

Before Draxum could take a step deeper into the tunnel, the purple one held out his arm.

"We need stealth, not the click of capra hooves."

"Sorry," Michelangelo said, "it would really help if you could stay here and guard our exit, just in case Leo...”

Draxum nodded. He bit back his retort to the purple one that he would be far more likely to blow their cover. Big Mama's yokai hound Gus already had his scent. 

Draxum wondered if Leonardo had accounted for Gus. His plan was impressive, but he was still inexperienced. With just a bit of guidance, Leonardo could be everything Draxum had hoped for. He could be more than Draxum had hoped for.

Draxum was proud.

Or at least he was prouder of Leonardo than he was of the other turtles at the moment. He could hear the sounds of a fight filtering through the tunnels.

Michelangeloappeared first gesturing towards Draxum.

"Go, go, go."

Draxum waited until Michelangelopassed him before he started moving. He ran backwards ready to summon his, unfortunately still weak, vines if Big Mama’s guards caught up. But the next one to appear was not a guard but rather the purple one.

He was flying using one of his fake shells. Until now Draxum had not understood why he would give up the enhanced maneuverability that being a softshell granted him for an inferior version of the other turtles' defenses. Now he understood. Flight was a useful attribute to have, at least if, like the purple one, one desired to carry a human away from danger.

The human, for her part, was not pleased with being carried away, despite the blood on her arm. So at least the turtles had found one of the humans that was worth knowing. Perhaps that was why their view on humanity was so much more positive than most humans deserved.

The red one was at the rear of their group, mystic energy crackling around his fists and arms.

"No one got by you right?"

Draxum snorted. "Of course not."

The red one grimaced, charged energy in his- stolen from Draxum- weapon, and brought the entire tunnel down where Draxum had been standing.

Michelangelospun around to face the destroyed tunnel. "What about Leo?"

"We're no good to him if Big Mama catches us."

Michelangelogrimaced but left behind the collapsed tunnel. He joined their exit from the hidden city.

The trip back to the turtles' lair was tense and silent. Broken only by the human's insistence that her injury was not that bad and they could continue looking.

While Draxum was more than willing to leave the human behind to look for Leonardo. Doing so now would undoubtedly make Michelangelo more upset. Besides, retreating and regrouping at the lair could prove beneficial. 

At the lair, the human entered the medical bay to clean her cut. The purple one went into his lab to continue trying to track Leonardo’s phone. The red one scoured Leonardo’s map. And Michelangelo placed a call to the rat. 

Draxum used their distraction to enter Leonardo’s room. Perhaps he had left plans on where he would hide if cornered. 

Leonardo's bed was a mess, piled high with blankets. Neatness was one thing Draxum was going to insist that Leonardo learn when he started training him in strategy and tactics.

It would be much easier to figure out how to help Leonardo if he had left his plans neatly organized instead of stuffed between the pages of his 'comic' books. Draxum had flipped through, and then dropped, several books when a muffled voice came from the bed.

“Get out of my room.”

Draxum spun towards the bed. Beneath the pile of blankets he could see two eyes glaring at him.

“Turtles,” Draxum called, “your brother is in here.”

“Go away,” Leonardo grumbled.

“Come out,” Draxum commanded, “they- we are all worried.”

Leonardo did not move. Draxum sent in a thin vine and wrapped it around Leonardo’s arm. Draxum was pleased that it only required a slight tug to bring Leonardo out from under his covers. 

"Although there were some issues with the final stages of your plan," Draxum said as he led Leonardo out of his room. "The work that went into crafting it was impressive."

Draxum removed his vine. Michelangelo caught sight of them. And Draxum could see his face, narrowed with worry, relax into a grin.

A sharp pain bloomed between Draxum's eyes.

Metal and glass clattered to the floor.

Draxum rubbed his forehead and blinked at Leonardo's rectangle of communication on the ground. The normally smooth surface covered in a spider web of cracks.

Michaelangelo’s grin fell. He reached out to Leonardo, or rather the place Leonardo had been.

“ _Twenty four hour lock down initiated.”_

Michelangelo raced into the garage. Draxum followed him to see the purple one’s vehicle sitting with large metal clamps over it’s wheels and entrances. Draxum did not know why the purple one kept choosing defense over maneuverability. He would have to have a talk with the rat about that. 

But for now he would hold back his commentary. Despite the fact that the purple one, and the red one, had just entered the garage, because Michelangelo looked worried. He would bring up his restraint to Michelangelo later, when he would be able to be suitably impressed at his improvement.

"What happened?" The purple one asked.

"I don't know, Leo just locked himself in the tank." Michelangelo said, knocking at the metal blocking the door.

The purple one rolled his eyes. “Well isn’t that just great?”

Michelangelo looked at him, lip quivering. “I’m sure he had a reason.”

“To irresponsibly annoy me? I had hoped to work on the tank tonight. So thanks for that, Leo,” the purple one stopped, his foot causing a small metal tool to clatter across the floor. The purple one reached down and picked it up, along with an open black case by the tank’s entrance. “And you took two of my wrenches? Now I have to spend all day looking at an incomplete set you inconsiderate—”

“Donnie,” the red one reprimanded.

“What? The tank is soundproof. And don’t tell me you weren’t annoyed that we searched the hidden city tunnels while he was safe at home.”

“I mean a little,” the red one sighed, “do you think you can get it open though?”

“Sure can, in twenty three hours and fifty six minutes.”

Draxum had a day before he would see Leonardo again. His plans were objectively brilliant, but their execution. Draxum could change that. Leonardo had already made great strides from when Draxum first saw him, fighting like an untrained buffoon in his lab. Now he just had to work on the illogical outbursts. They were no doubt from a lack of discipline instilled by the rat. But it didn’t matter, with a bit of training Leonardo could be more than Draxum had dreamed possible. 

Draxum would be ready to start the second that tank opened.

  
  
  



	3. The Aftermath

Leo backed into the medbay. The pounding of his heart in his ears, his shoulder, was fading, even if he still wanted to scratch at the wrist that was caught by Draxum’s vine. He had had enough of Draxum and his vines to last a lifetime. 

At least the wrench thrown in his plan had been a good, and literal, thing. Or actually the two wrenches, as the first one had missed the tank’s lockdown button. He only hoped that that whole situation would keep Draxum occupied until he got bored of their lair and left. 

Leo couldn’t understand why Draxum was here at all. It’s not like Draxum had wanted to do the bonding day in the first place, so he shouldn’t still be here. 

But he was. 

And now, Leo needed to find a non broken phone. He needed to call Hueso. He needed Hueso to warn Stewart, just in case. Stewart was supposed to be resting after his ordeal in the Battle Nexus. But Leo had given him an open invitation to the lair. If being there would help Stewart feel safe, Leo hadn’t wanted to remove that option. However with Draxum still poking around— 

“Leo?”

“April?” Leo said, spinning at the sound of her voice. “What are you—”

“What I am doing.” She said, raising an eyebrow behind her red glasses. “What are you doing?”

“I- I didn’t- I-” Leo stammered, his eyes landing on the gauze she was holding. “What happened to your arm?”

“We thought you were in the hidden city tunnels.”

Leo tried his best to hide his flinch. That wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t supposed to know, at least not until Leo could return triumphant. Because otherwise they’d either try to stop him or— 

Or get hurt following his plan. Leo accepted that risk when he created his plan, Draxum when he mutated people against their will. But his family— 

Leo approached April slowly, his eyes never leaving the gauze. “Let me help you wrap it.”

He took the gauze she offered in his right hand. Up close he could see that April had already cleaned the wound. Her entire forearm was torn up, as if dragged along a rough surface. There were several areas that were bleeding but nothing was wide or deep enough to warrant stitches. That didn’t mean that the injury wouldn’t hurt like hell though. 

“Did you already put ointment on it?”

“As I told Donnie, it’s not that bad.”

Leo handed the gauze back to her. And rifled through several drawers with his right hand. He pulled out antibiotic ointment, petroleum jelly, and two large sterile non stick dressings.

“I don’t want to use up your supplies,” she argued.

Leo tisked and walked to the sink. 

“And I don’t want you to deal with having to remove a dressing that’s stuck to your wound.”

Leo had to pull his left hand up to get it into the sink to wash it. But he wasn’t going to use any half measures in treating April. She got hurt because of his plan. Ignoring the twinge in his shell to make sure she had the best possible care was the least Leo could do.

Getting the ointment onto her arm was logistically simple. He could support her arm with his left hand without needing to move his shoulder. And using only feather light touches with his right hand meant that both April wasn’t hurt more by the application of ointment and that he didn’t need to apply any more effort from his left arm. Putting the petroleum jelly and sterile dressings on top followed a similar procedure. 

However the gauze itself gave him more trouble. He could feel himself shake when providing enough pressure to keep the gauze in place for the initial loops. And he couldn’t maneuver his left hand enough to pass the roll between his hands as he looped it over and under her arm. It didn’t mean his wrappings were any less neat than usual, just that he was a bit slower. Still, Leo was pleased with his work. The dressing was neat and snug, but didn’t cut off circulation to April’s fingers.

He felt confident enough to look up at her with a grin. April’s face remained locked into a concerned frown.

“Leo what happened to your arm?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

From the look April gave him, Leo could tell he had answered too quickly.

“I’m getting the others,” she said.

“Just wait, please,” Leo said, grabbing her good arm with his right hand.

April looked at his left arm, hanging by his side, before turning her attention back to Leo.

“Alright, if you raise both arms for me.”

Leo raised his right arm above his head. He gave her a wavering smile.

“Can I get partial credit?”

April shook her head. “Leo, you should know better than anyone that this won’t just go away with a few hours rest.”

Leo looked down. April grabbed his arm and led him to the bed in the center of the medbay. It was salvaged from either a massage therapist or chiropractor, the open headrest made laying face down for shell treatment easier. 

“Sit,” April said.

Leo obliged. He toyed with the thought of running as soon as April turned her back. But she flicked on the overhead heat lamp.

Of course she wouldn’t play fair. 

The heat melted away the throbbing of his shoulder. All Leo wanted to do was lay down. Any other day he’d be half asleep by the time April returned with his brothers. 

But not today. The warmth couldn’t touch the anxiety deep in his stomach. He still hadn’t figured out what exactly he was going to say about his shell. And now there was an added complication. Draxum was here, if his lie wasn’t perfect, if they caught on. 

There would be a confrontation.

And Draxum was the one who, apparently, went out of his way to look for him.

While Leo was the asshole that got April injured.

He didn’t need Donnie’s intellect to know how the chips from that confrontation would fall.

He had to think of a lie.

“Leo, what the shell?”

Leo deflated at the sound of Donnie’s voice. He was supposed to have more time. 

He didn’t answer. From the corner of his eye he could see April, Mikey, Raph, and Draxum had entered the room behind Donnie. He didn’t look up, or acknowledge them. Instead Leo focused on his breathing as he felt Donnie’s nails scrape against the medical tape on his shell. 

It wasn’t put there to actually solve his problem. But after he got Stewart’s help to rinse the area with disinfectant, Stewart had not wanted to leave until Leo was taken care of. Which was nice of him, but he didn’t have the expertise to treat a shell injury, and Leo hadn’t wanted him to feel obligated to wait until his brothers came back. 

Stewart had been through enough, he deserved some rest.

Besides, from what Leo could tell by looking at it in the mirror, he wasn’t in immediate danger. Sure the fact that the two edges of the crack were misaligned and affecting the movement of his arm was a bad sign. And he also couldn’t tell for sure how deep the damage went. But he wasn’t missing a piece and the crack didn’t cross his spine, which meant positive things for his recovery. 

Although, judging from the sound that April made as she sucked air in past her teeth, and the slight tremor in Donnie’s hand as it rested on Leo’s shell, they were not feeling as positive as he was.

“Mikey, get me an analgesic, now.”

Leo didn’t move. Donnie clenched his fist against Leo’s shell.

“Painkiller,” Donnie said tersely, “third drawer on the left.”

The contents of said drawer rattled for a few seconds before it slid closed and Mikey’s footsteps, faster than usual, made their way across the medbay.

Despite knowing what was about to happen, Leo still flinched at the pinch in his bad shoulder. 

April gripped his good hand in her own. Leo returned the gesture, but kept his gaze fixed to his knees.

“I told you to be careful,” Donnie hissed, “You promised that you would be careful.”

Leo blinked. The only promise he had to Donnie recently was about the experimental explosive disks. He had to be at least a hundred yards away, farther if he expected that something could fall. The distance between Big Mama’s vault and the Battle Nexus was much greater than a hundred yards. He had kept that promise. 

But the best lie was one that the mark already believed.

“I’m sorry,” Leo whispered.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it,” Donnie countered, voice rising. “Those were experimental explosives. You could have been killed. And for what? Leo, no bauble from Big Mama’s vault is worth your life. How could you even— No tech repair from me for a month. No new devices, experimental or otherwise, until your shell completely heals, and I feel I can trust you again.”

Leo thought about his phone. It lay, twice shattered, on the atrium floor. All of his connections to the outside world, all of his memes, were trapped beneath the broken frame. His time spent sequestered would pass so much slower without them. If he told the truth— 

If he told the truth he’d have to listen to Mikey argue that Draxum didn’t mean it. That they are family and Leo needed to just forgive him already. That Leo had no reason to be scared. And when Leo couldn’t, well, Draxum was more useful.

It would be the right call.

Leo couldn’t bear it, he’d rather go a decade without his memes.

“I understand,” he said softly.

Donnie huffed, but didn’t press the issue farther. His hand was featherlight on Leo’s shell. 

Leo allowed Donnie to guide him face down onto the bed. He tucked his left arm by his side, but allowed his right to dangle. In his limited view through the headrest, April’s knee appeared. Her hand reached out and held his.

Donnie tried to be as gentle as possible and Leo’s shoulder was quickly becoming numb. But that didn’t stop a deep throb of pain each time Donnie prodded Leo’s shell. 

Leo focused on staying as still as possible.

April squeezed his hand.

Leo returned the gesture.

“Good news,” Donnie said, resting his hand on the right side of Leo’s shell, “your coelomic membrane is intact, which will greatly reduce the risk for secondary infection. Bad news. We need to reduce the break and hope that that helps with whatever is affecting your arm.”

Donnie’s hand never left his shell, but Leo could tell that he was looking away by the way that it twisted.

“Raph, Draxum, I’m going to need some help with this.”

Leo’s stomach dropped.

Raph’s hands were fine. Draxum’s hands made Leo’s shell crawl. And Draxum’s vines— 

Someone squeezed his hand. Someone else said numbers.

Draxum’s vines pressed tighter against him.

He hated this. 

He hated this. He hated this.

He had to get away.

Leo yanked his good arm towards his side.

He had to get away.

His nails dug into the vine at his waist. He had no leverage. But he had— 

Pain exploded from his shell. Bone ground against bone. His hand dug desperately at the vine that held him.

Leo’s vision narrowed. A scream, ninety percent fear and ten percent pain ripped it’s way from his throat. 

All Leo saw was white.

“Get away from him.” 

Like his beak cutting through water, Stewart’s voice cut through the haze.

He shouldn’t have screamed. He knew better than to have screamed. Gus might not be able to track him via scent. But that didn’t mean Gus has stopped looking, stopped listening.

Hands of multiple sizes touched his shell, his skin, holding him still against the ground.

He’d brought Big Mama’s men right to them. 

Or worse.

Draxum was right there, squared off against Stewart. Leo needed a weapon. He needed to get up. He was too late last time and now— who knew what Draxum would do.

Leo struggled to stand but large hands, perhaps belonging to the owl guard, held him down.

A voice was in his ear, telling him, commanding him to calm down. Leo didn’t have a choice. 

He forced himself to lie still, clamping down on every instinct that told him to run.

The pressure holding him down lightened, the guards that were on him shifted their attention to Stewart.

They shouldn’t have let him go.

There was a startled shout and metallic bang when Leo moved. But the hands that reached for him couldn’t catch him.

Leo still didn’t have a weapon. But that didn’t matter. Stewart had just been freed and Leo wasn’t going to fail again.

Leo slid to a stop between Steward and Draxum, crouching defensively and raising both arms in preparation to defend or attack.

“Get away from him,” Leo hissed, eyes narrowed at Draxum.

“Leo,” Mikey’s voice grabbed his attention, “what are you doing?”

Leo saw his brother’s confused face. He saw that expression mirrored on the faces of April, Raph, and Donnie. 

The medbay bed was knocked to the side.

Right, medbay.

They were reducing his shell fracture and he— 

He just blew everything.

“I- I-”

Leo’s entire body shook. He didn’t have an explanation. He had no words to get this to go away. Some faceman, Draxum really was a better asset to the family.

Stewart’s cool fingertips touched his right arm. They guided him to the floor behind Stewart. Leo followed. He sat, knees curled against his plastron, breathing hard and trying to will away tears.

“Why is he here?” Stewart hissed, venom lacing the word ‘he’.

“I was invited,” Draxum snapped. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking in on my friend who saved me from Big Mama.”

“You were in Big Mama’s vault?” Mikey asked.

“I was held captive in the Battle Nexus.” Steward corrected. “Leo triggered an explosion at her vault to distract her guards, so that we and like a dozen others could escape.”

Donnie moved towards Leo. When he spoke, his words were flat and slow.

“He triggered the explosives with the last name of Alfred Nobel from within the Battle Nexus barracks?”

“Yeah.” Stewart answered.

Leo felt his stomach drop at Donnie’s firm grip on his shoulder.

“Then, why, Leonardo, did you tell me that you were too close to the explosion? The distance between the barracks and the vault is far more than the minimum safe distance I gave you.”

“I—” Leo felt the blood drain from his face. 

“Because I asked him to,” Stewart lied, his face as pale as Leo’s felt.

“Why?” Donnie asked. His voice was calm and clear. Leo knew that Donnie was livid.

“Well I guess the cat’s kinda out of the bag anyway. But I didn’t want _him,”_ Stewart pointed towards Draxum, “to know anything about me. I didn’t want to give him another chance to track me down.”

“Wait you’re—” Raph started.

“Imitation crab man!” Mikey finished.

“I go by Stewart.”

“My first success with the latest batch of ooze. Truly you have grown into a fine mutant.”

“Don’t care,” Stewart snapped back at Draxum, “you ruined my life.”

“What life?” Draxum laughed. “You were a lowly delivery servant, hooked to the whims of a capricious boss. Now you have a chance to be so much more.”

“And if I do, it would be due to my own effort. You would have played no part.” Steward shot back.

“No part, I—”

“You didn’t even show up to help save me from Big Mama,” Stewart said. 

“That wasn’t the plan,” Draxum grumbled. “We got separated.”

Stewart rolled his eyes. “That’s an interesting way to say it.”

“I didn’t drop him on purpose,” Draxum said flatly.

Donnie squeezed Leo’s shoulder tightly before letting go. He moved to crouch next to April. They both had their backs towards Leo. 

“You dropped him, again?” Raph said slowly.

“He kicked away from me,” Draxum answered. “It wasn’t my fault that he was acting irrationally and froze on the ledge.”

Leo curled forward, squeezing his eyes against the hot tears that threatened to spill. Of course Draxum would tell. They never should have pushed him. Leo should have just been stronger. But- but he wasn’t. Now everyone knew. 

Now he would lose everyone.

Almost everyone. Stewart still liked him better, at least for now. And April. She had her arms wrapped around him. 

Donnie hadn’t moved though. He was still crouching with his back to Leo. Raph was still standing between Stewart and Draxum. Mikey was still standing next to Draxum.

At least two was a better family than none.

“Draxum,” Mikey said softly. “Why don’t you head back home?”

“I haven’t done anything wrong. And I’m a changed yokai.”

“Yeah, I know. But the thing is, that doesn't actually matter.” Mikey said slowly. “You hurt them. Look Dad, we're still family, but any contact with Stewart, or Leo, is going to be explicitly on their terms.”

When they had first met Draxum, Leo had thought he looked hurt and disappointed when he asked why they were fighting him when they should be on the same side. 

But now Leo knew what an actual hurt and disappointed face on Draxum looked like.

“It’s not fair,” he said.

“Yeah, it is.” Mikey countered. “The hurt you caused doesn't disappear the second you decide to change. Stewart is still mutated. Leo is, apparently, still dealing with the fact you dropped him off a building.”

“That was months ago. How long—” 

“As long as it takes.” Mikey cut in with a shrug. “Maybe never. The important thing is that you both keep trying to improve yourself, and you follow their lead on any potential reconnection.”

Draxum crossed his arms frowning. Leo flinched when he felt Draxum’s gaze fall on him.

Draxum looked away.

“Fine.”

Mikey led Draxum out of the medbay. All of Leo’s adrenaline left with them.

He slumped against April. He knew he was crying on her jacket. He knew he should pull back, wipe his eyes, and tell a joke or a one-liner. He knew he should say something, anything. 

But he couldn’t.

Raph righted the medbay bed with a dull metallic thud. Donnie’s fingers ghosted over the edge of Leo’s shell. Stewart pressed his hand against Leo’s forehead. April squeezed his hand.

Leo stared at his knees. It wasn’t a comfortable position to sit in, the hard floor pressed against his awkwardly placed ankles.

Leo didn’t move.

“Hey buddy.”

Raph crouched in front of him, arms out.

Leo clung to April.

Raph scooped both of them up.

When Raph set both of them down it was hard for Leo to ignore the lull of the heat lamp. His grip on April loosened and fell away. He let himself sink face down, stretching out his legs and arms as far as he could.

Well his legs and an arm. 

Someone caught his left arm keeping it close to his body. 

Someone with a big hand.

Raph.

"Hey D,” Raph said quietly, “how's he looking?"

Fingers ran over the edge of his shell. It felt weird. Like there was a slight discontinuity in sensation.

"Can you hold him still? I should be able to...” Donnie’s voice was tired and soft. “It isn't as bad this time."

Raph leaned on his shell. April held his hand. Stewart traced circles onto the back of his head. 

Donnie counted down from three.

Leo's vision narrowed. He whimpered as once again bone scraped over bone, leaving a throbbing ache deep in his shell.

Tears dripped from his beak, splashing on the floor below.

Donnie ran his finger over the edge of his shell again.

"All done Leo, I just need you to hold still until we can secure it."

It took a beat before Leo nodded. Donnie let out a deep breath when he did.

"April if you could get me some sandpaper. It's near the epoxy and hooks. Actually go ahead and grab those too. We'll need them as well."

"Hooks?" Stewart asked.

“Yeah. We use them to anchor the wire that's going to provide support for Leo's shell. This method lets us keep an eye on the injury to make sure there's no infection.” Donnie turned, “Thank you, you can put the rest over there.”

Sanding his shell wasn’t painful. It was like Donnie had agreed to scratch an itch every half inch down his shell. 

The attention and care was nice.

Relaxing.

Donnie’s three fingered hands rested lightly on his shell while he worked.

Five fingers ran over his shoulders as cold spots on his shell turned warm.

Four fingers traced circles as pressure built in those spots.

Large three fingered hands held him gently as the world rocked and bounced rhythmically.

Five small fingers pressed against his forehead, pulling a comforter around the soft wall he leaned against.

Three fingers gripped his hand, shaking slightly and rubbing a thumb over his knuckle.

A large three fingered hand held him while the soft wall was readjusted.

Leo’s left hand, supported by the soft wall, clutched in vain for his lost comforter.

“Hey buddy,” Raph’s voice was soft. “Are you up?”

Leo had three options. He could say yes, and then he actually had to get up and engage with whatever Raph wanted. He could say no, and Raph would laugh and maybe only bother him if whatever he wanted was important. Or Leo could stay silent. Raph would either leave him alone or double down on trying to wake him.

Leo stayed silent, keeping his eyes closed.

“Come on. I saw you move.” Raph said, “Please, I brought you some breakfast.”

It looked like Raph had doubled down. He usually didn’t, not when he kept reminding them all how important sleep was. Maybe he had been asleep for too long. 

But still, a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

Leo moved his left hand to wave Raph off. The aching soreness in his arm got his attention. It felt like yesterday was the lair games but every event was one armed pull ups. Leo groaned, and curled up against the wall made of pillows and blankets. 

Raph’s fingers gently ran over his shoulder.

“I've got something that will help with that, but you have to get up and eat first.”

Leo groaned and Raph gently repositioned Leo's arm on top of the pillow wall.

“Pops came home early if you want to see him?” Raph asked, flicking on the red lanterns on his ceiling. 

Leo shoved his head against the pillow wall to block the light. How on Earth has he forgotten his eye mask.

“Stewart's still here. He's way less destructive than Bullhop, and brings a fascinating perspective to the whole ‘Albearto's reused pizza slices’ debate.”

Leo slid his left arm slowly down the pillow wall until it hit the thick comforter that only half covered him. He tried to pull at it, but that arm wasn't in the best position. Raph took the comforter from Leo’s grip. But he didn't pull it off to wake Leo up. He pulled it up, gently fluffing it over Leo's exposed shoulder and neck.

“April just got back. Her arm is doing much better today.” 

“That’s good,” Leo mumbled in the pillows he had his face pressed into.

Raph let out a relieved laugh. When he spoke again his voice was both louder and lighter than it had been.

“Donnie's working on salvaging your phone. Or at this point, I think he's moved on to transferring what he could salvage to a new one. You should have it soon.”

“No. He tech grounded me.”

“Pretty sure that's when he was feeling guilty that his invention got you hurt. But since that's not actually the case, he's not holding to it. So until then I've got food and hot...” Raph paused, “lukewarm tea if you get up. It’s a from scratch breakfast burrito. It's good, I promise.”

Leo pushed away from the pillow wall. Raph caught him before he rolled onto his shell.

“Easy, easy, I got you.”

Leo could feel the points of tension where the clasps were attached to his shell. And he could feel the loose padding guarding the clasps and wires from getting snagged on fabric around the lair. He couldn't believe he slept through them doing that.

Raph gently maneuvered him so he was sitting at the side of his bed. Leo was sure Donnie's work would have held up to him positioning himself, but he also didn't begrudge Raph's caution.

The breakfast burrito smelled perfect. The outside toasted to perfection with just the right amount of crunch without being burnt. The ingredients were also perfect. The only thing wrong was that it was no longer fresh from the stove hot. That didn't stop the slightly warm burrito from being delicious, but did make it sit heavy in his stomach.

Leo could only manage three bites before his appetite fled.

Raph didn’t push him when Leo dropped the burrito back on the plate. Instead he placed it on Leo’s bedside table. He then offered Leo medicine and a glass of water.

Leo accepted both.

Raph sighed in relief.

Leo didn’t share the feeling. He focused on his hands laying in his lap.

“Is Mikey...”

He trailed off. Mad or disappointed, Leo didn’t know which would feel worse. 

“He's home, asleep in his room.” Raph said.

Raph didn’t answer his question, or he purposely deflected. Leo didn’t want to know.

“So, what now, Leo?”

Leo forced a smile. Not one of his large confident ones, Raph would see right through that, but one that was more subdued, embarrassed. 

“I figure we just forget yesterday happened,” he said as lightly as he could manage. “It was a stressful day, but we don't need to dwell on it. We can just go back to how things were before.”

Raph narrowed his eyes. “No we can’t. The way things were before, they weren’t good.”

“They were fine.”

“I’m pretty sure yesterday proved that they weren’t.”

“I thought we agreed that yesterday didn’t happen.”

Raph crossed his arms. “I didn’t. And I’m not going to.”

Leo dropped his grin and his gaze. His hands were interesting. With everything else going on he hadn’t even noticed how torn and ragged his nails were. The brick wall had done a number on them.

Raph put his hand on top of Leo’s.

“I’ve faced the Shredder, watched him tear apart my mystic form. I’ve fought an entire league of our enemies knowing none of us even had weapons. But do you know the scariest thing for me was?”

“Was it that time you had to fight Mrs. Cuddles alone?” Leo said, he couldn’t manage a smile any more, but a smirk fit better anyway.

“No Leo,” Raph’s voice was low, “It was when you disappeared over the edge of that roof.”

Leo went back to inspecting his nails and the knees they rested on. He tried to ignore the fact that Raph’s hand, still holding his, was shaking.

“I thought I had lost you forever. I thought you were gone.” Raph’s voice broke.

“But you caught me,” Leo said softly, squeezing Raph’s hand. “So it's all good.”

Raph looked at Leo and Leo kept his gaze firmly planted on his knees. 

“No it's not.” Raph said, hurt lacing his voice. “I almost lost you because I didn't take your fear seriously. I promised myself I would never do that again. But Leo, I can't keep that promise if you don't tell me what's going on.”

“I still don't trust Draxum,” Leo said with a shrug. He hoped to pizza supreme in the sky that Raph couldn’t hear how his voice shook.

“Yeah I see that. So what do you want to do about it?”

The breakfast burrito sat like a brick in his stomach. Leo squeezed his eyes closed.

“I don't know, Raph. Don't you think I've been trying? Logically, I know he's trying to get better. I do. But my body just hasn't gotten the memo. He touches me with his vines and it's like. I don't know. It's like I'm back on the roof. And I can't. I—”

Raph cut Leo off, pulling him into an embrace. 

“It's ok, it's ok. Leo, it's ok.” 

With his head pressed against Raph’s plastron, Leo could feel the vibrations from each word he spoke. He tried to blink back his tears. But Raph's voice vibrating through him and his embrace enveloping him, made that impossible. 

Leo allowed himself to cry. 

Raph held him until his tears subsided.

And when he let Leo go, it was only so that he could sit next to Leo. The bed dipped slightly under his weight. Gravity tugged Leo towards Raph’s side, and Leo knew better to argue with one of nature’s fundamental forces. He curled up against Raph, relishing the secure feeling of having Raph’s arm over his shell. Even if he did note that it was placed at a slightly awkward angle to avoid Leo’s injury.

“So no vines anywhere near you then?”

“No.” Leo said, shaking his head. He could feel Raph's worry in the way his hand pulled Leo closer. “If there's a fight, if one of you is in danger— The vines are fine. I just don't want to be grabbed. I never want to be grabbed.”

Raph’s grip relaxed. “And what about Draxum himself?”

“What about him?”

“Are you comfortable with him around, assuming he never uses his vines?”

“No.”

“Ok,” Raph said in a firm voice. “So no Draxum visits or outings.”

“I don't think I want that.”

“Huh?”

“He's a strong ally,” Leo said. He didn’t look at Raph when he spoke, but he could feel Raph’s eyes on him. “He's got access to mystic knowledge and power that could help protect our family. I don't want to put us at greater risk by alienating him.”

“Are you sure?” 

Leo took a slow breath before nodding.

“Ok. But, you can change your mind at any time, alright? We can start with an occasional group outing. But no solo meetings and no invitations to the lair. Does that sound good?”

Leo nodded. 

“And if I have even an inkling that you’re not as ok as you say you are, I'll cut off the meetings. Ok?”

Leo took a shaky breath. “Do you think that'll be ok for Donnie and Mikey?”

“I'll talk to them, but I'm sure they will—”

Leo curled into Raph’s plastron. Hugging himself with his right hand.

“No, no, no, not like that.” Raph said quickly. “Right now Mikey's plan involves him only contacting Draxum remotely. And based on the statements that Don has whispered to S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., once he finishes fixing your phone he’s going to implement some more effective, and lethal, lair defenses.”

“Oh.”

“I swear you won't have any more contact than you want, ok? Maybe less, depending on what the others want, but not more. I promise.”

“Ok,” Leo said, more towards Raph’s plastron than Raph himself.

“Ok,” Raph affirmed. 

He remained there, silent but supporting Leo, as Leo slowly uncurled. Once Leo was mostly sitting up Raph spoke again. 

“We haven’t technically finished our Jupiter Jim marathon, do you want to join us in the living room?”

Leo nodded. He didn’t object to Raph carrying him. And he definitely didn’t object to getting the best beanbag.

The moment that Raph left to get the rest of the family, April was by Leo’s side, one hand running over the rim of her glasses.

“Hey Leo—”

“April,” He answered quickly, pushing himself up to get a better look at her arm, “how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” she answered, gently pushing him back down. “And don’t deflect.”

“I’m not deflecting. I— You got hurt because of me—” 

“No Leo I didn’t,” April crouched in front of Leo. “Unless I really missed something yesterday, you weren’t the one who dragged me along a wall. And now this topic is closed and we can get back to what I want to say. I’m sorry.”

Leo blinked. “For what?”

“For not listening. If I hadn’t rushed off to get Donnie—” 

“I would have been in pain longer,” Leo said. “Getting Dee was the right call.” 

“Yeah but— “

“No buts. Unless I really missed something yesterday, you didn’t drag Draxum into the medbay. He chose to follow.”

April opened her mouth to argue, stopped, and let out a sigh. 

“Using my own words against me isn’t fair. But I guess this means we’re good.”

“Yeah, we are.”

April sat on the ground at the base of his beanbag. Leo gently pressed his knee to her shoulder and she leaned against his legs.

They sat in an easy silence until Donnie arrived. And although he didn’t say anything, he did set a new phone in Leo’s hand, before grabbing his own beanbag chair. The phone was heavier than Leo expected, and a quick inspection revealed the reason why. All four corners were covered in titanium.

“Hey.”

Leo looked up at Stewart, “Hey.”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re doing alright.” 

“Yeah,” Leo said quietly. He ran a finger over the metal at the edge of his phone. If he ever had to use it as an impromptu weapon again, it would leave a mark. “I am.” 

April looked back at Stewart, “Are you going to join us?”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“Scoff.” Donnie said from his chair, “Jupiter Jim marathons are community time.”

“As long as you don’t mind running commentary,” April said with a laugh.

Stewart gave a grin. “It’s the best way to watch classics.”

“Then grab a chair.” Donnie said, pointing to the space between his beanbag and Leo’s.

It only took a few seconds for Stewart to grab a beanbag chair and return. He placed it on Leo’s right, in the space that Donnie had indicated.

A second beanbag chair was placed on Leo’s left.

Mikey hopped onto it and fluffed a blanket over himself and Leo. Leo knew this blanket. It was thick and soft and covered in paint splotches from Mikey’s various projects. He usually pulled it out when he didn’t want to risk ruining any of the family’s less colorful blankets.

Leo shifted to look at Mikey. In his hands were nail files, clippers, and a selection of nail polish ranging in shade from clear to dark navy.

“If you want?” Mikey asked.

Leo gave Mikey his left hand

“Artist’s choice.” Leo said.

Mikey ran his thumb over Leo’s knuckles while he examined Leo’s nails. After a moment he seemed to decide on the best course of action. And he was very gentle as he filed down and clipped off the ragged sections of Leo’s nails, preventing the tears from getting even deeper.

Leo leaned back. He could see Splinter and Raph enter the room. Raph set up the projector, and Splinter gave Leo a smile before climbing onto his chair.

It was rare that pops joined them in watching Jupiter Jim. And while he couldn’t relate, Leo could understand how knowing Moncrief in real life could take some of the charm out of the Jupiter Jim movies. So the fact that Splinter was here— 

The projector whirled to life. Raph sat on the floor behind Leo, reminding Leo that pops wasn’t the only one.

Everyone was here.

Leo had been wrong. 

He had completely misread the situation. And he had never _ever_ been happier to admit it.


End file.
